Two New Telescope Reviews on AstronomySource

-

AstronomySource and TelescopicWatch, which had been in the process of a merger (being owned by the same company), are being unmerged. So now I have a job again. I wrote two new reviews, and a guide to buying telescopes for kids is coming soon.

 https://astronomysource.com/reviews/skywatcher-startravel-102-az3/

My review of the SkyWatcher StarTravel 102 AZ3 achromatic refractor telescope.  I have something to admit--the unit I briefly owned was in fact not the skywatcher, but an older Celestron branded version which is 100% identical aside from the eyepieces and livery.

I bought this refractor for my cousin off craigslist for $100, a steal, and then realized the mount was just not quite easy enough to use. I wish I could have kept it, but instead I sold it to a friend and bought a SkyScanner, which is what I should have done in the first place. I'd just convinced myself that oh, you gotta have a refractor because collimation. No, the mount is more important, which is what I've been saying for ages now.

I sold the scope to the guy with a 90 degree star diagonal that a friend sent me, which was supposed to go to my cousin, but my cousin isn't getting a refractor. The original diagonal, which is still sold with the skywatcher version of the scope, was the 45 degree prism diagonal.

I love that scope and I wish I didn't have to sell it. It was fantastic for deep sky objects, showing them in high contrast. The view of the Double Cluster reminded me of what the 6" Dob can do, and I could easily see the E.T. cluster's body, which is a struggle in my 4.5" Bushnell Voyager. Chromatic aberration did make lunar/planetary viewing tough, though.

https://astronomysource.com/reviews/celestron-omni-xlt-150-eq-telescope/

The Omni XLT-150 does not need an introduction. I've talked about it lots of times on my blog. I had bought the mount for it with the intent of writing a review for it and recovering some of what I paid for it. Then AstronomySource and TelescopicWatch were to be merged. TelescopicWatch had a review of it already, so I couldn't. Well, now they're being unmerged, so I could finally publish that review. Here it is.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Beginner's Guide to (Budget) Eyepieces

-
This post is copied from a Reddit post I recently made on r/telescopes.  First, a message of scope, so to speak. I am a budget astronomer, as such I have little experience with expensive specialized eyepiece designs. The most I've paid for an eyepiece is about 50 dollars. However I think most people who want to know about beginner eyepieces would probably be looking for a guide to affordable eyepieces anyway, so I hope this remains useful.
Read more

Why You Should Build an Aperture Mask for your Celestron FirstScope.

-
Image
An aperture mask is a simple cap you place over the telescope to cut down the aperture. The reasons why you might want to do this are not obvious, but in short, they cut down on optical aberrations significantly. This is especially important in a telescope with flawed optics--specifically those with spherical mirrors. This article will be about masking down a FirstScope, but the same principle could apply to any telescope with a spherical mirror, including telescopes that for the price have no right to have one, such as the deplorable PowerSeeker 127EQ and the AstroMaster 114EQ. The Celestron FirstScope is one of my favorite small telescopes, and it's pretty good for scanning around for bright DSOs, glancing at the Moon, etc. Its stock eyepieces are utter garbage, and when combined with the fast spherical mirror (76mm f/4), the Huygens 20mm is almost unusable.
Read more

Comparing Commercial Dobsonians

-
I recently realized that I have close to enough money to get an 8" or 10" full-sized ground Dob, which would be a serious upgrade from my 6" dob. The only other two full-size Dobs I have had any experience with so far have been the SkyWatcher FlexTube 8", which we use outside at the Observatory, and my own Apertura DT6 which I received in March. In both cases I had little choice in which they were--the Eight Inchers were bought well before I started volunteering at the Observatory, and my Six Incher was bought during and open box sale at a significant discount--the only way I'd have been able to afford it at the time. It normally costs $300, but it only cost me about $230, which is quite a steal! Now that I'm looking into an upgrade with a heftier budget, I'm in a position to make a more informed decision.
Read more